Von Gorian
Commander von Gorian was a Kaiserliche Marine Commander attached to the Luftsreitkräfte aboard the Zeppelin LZ36, he was the Captain that was in charge of the LZ36 and it's crew, however he was assigned onto it's test flight until Colonel Hirsch changed the plan which turned into a war mission to attack Balcoven Castle to steal British Documents and as well as Archives, Paintings, and as well as Magna Carta. Biography During the First World War in 1915 he was one of the men to attend a meeting with the Oberste Heeresleitung Office about a mission about the British that where pushing the Germans back everyday, including how British Squadron Fighters that were patrolling England, and Zeppelins bombing England and striking strategic targets, in the meeting Professor Christian Altschul, confirmed he never intended to use Airships for war and would only stop the terror in the trenches, however the German Naval Officer said he authorised no new prototypes of this kind, after flight testing is completed the LZ36 will be commissioned and then they plan one single operation that could destroy British moral. While in Friedrichshafen Airfield, he was in the Gondola Car when both former British Army Lieutenant Geoffrey Richter-Douglas under the alias of Gottfried von Richter in reality he was on a secret mission to steal the plans of the LZ36 a new type of Zeppelin under development, he was introduced to von Richter, von Gorian was in charge of LZ36 as it's Captain and Commander in charge of the crew on the test flight, along with his other command crew, that were also Harlich and Brandner and a Oberbootsmann on board, with Dr Altschul and Erika his younger wife on board they proceeded into the air on the test flight as it left Friedrichshafen on the way to the sky he gave word of command to his crew, during the flight however von Richter asked von Gorian if they used parachutes and how they jumped he only said to him that they jump but the parachute weights 50 pounds but didn't have lots for a 30 man crew, later they had to put on cold weather gear for high altitude test when they reached high up into the sky, when they reached 4000 feet they had to discharge ballast to reach in the sky, but the air was 14 degrees and drooping, and the temperature was only 10 degrees, although Professor Altschul has problems going this high and needed oxygen or the height, after repairs where completed in engine four they were able to press on after engine four had stalled, later they drank a toast to LZ36 and the Zeppelin was commissioned into service after all was checked, von Gorian was just about to turn LZ36 for home until Colonel Hirsch told von Gorian that they're was a change of plan in the mission and from the Oberste Heeresleitung for a Commando Raid at Balcoven Castle it had been commissioned, however von Gorian wasn't pleased by this he told Hirsch that such procedure never been followed before, as he showed von Gorian where they're going he said they can't get back to Germany if they have enough petrol for the test, Hirsch promised to tell von Gorian to tell Oberste Heeresleitung command that the test was successful and all wireless must be shut down and sealed. Later on in the morning just as both Professor Altschul and Erika and Geoffrey woke up in the morning, Altschul asked von Gorian where they were heading but said it was to Norway, but Hirsch said on a war mission but Dr Altschul was outraged by Hirsch, Altschul stated he was going to complain to the Oberste Heeresleitung, however though Hirsch was right when he told Dr Altschul that the German Highest Authority had ordered it this way, this mean Colonel Hirsch is now taking over command after one test flight, but Erika asked if von Richter had anything to do with it but all Hirsch told her he cannot disclose any future information, when the radio operator came in he said about the shutting down of the Wireless and the safety of the ship meaning 2 hours of weather reports but Hirsch told him he would be without weather reports. Later as LZ36 approached Norway, von Gorian however made sure the ship was at 50 feet and crossing over the fjords of Norway towards the lake, taking 3 degrees starboard, 40 feet closing before they were about to close into the landing sight ahead, his Oberbootsmann steered towards the lake, Brandner and Harlich corrected the descent for the landing in the lake safely with the elevators down and checked, then 3 degrees starboard steady until he ordered it to slow into the lake he ordered the engines to stop where they would wait to refuel, von Gorian later on ordered the gas cells to be checked before proceeding further on, although Dr Altschul said he needs to check the ship as well all the equipment and it would be madness to continue without a complete inspection, however von Gorian ordered he had two hours but Colonel Hirsch interrupted and changed the time to one hour instead although Dr Altschul stated it as madness, later on when Colonel Hirsch later ordered a prepare for take off to von Gorian, Erika tried to tell Hirsch she had not completed everything on her chart yet but Hirsch ordered a prepare for take off as Hirsch said they all have their problems so orders are orders and they where taking off as there was no time as Hirsch was in a rush to lead a commando raid on Balcoven Castle in Scotland, as the ship began to leave Norway on course to England for its mission, however Hirsch showed von Gorian the map of their second rendezvous was a Cargo Ship where it will go their to collect some cargo of Mustard Gas, and also some Kaiserliche Marine passengers for the Commando Raid, however getting their is one big problem which involves flying over British cruiser patrols and they could get spotted and reported back in Britain or worse so Hirsch's best opinion was to fly above the clouds, later while flying in the clouds, von Richter threw the Radio Operator off the airship while he was already dead back in Norway earlier when Geoffrey went to contact a decoding message called "Bunting Blue" by Codename and killed the operator so no one would know of this, so he threw him overboard by claiming the operator went mad and committed suicide, Von Richter shouted, "MAN OVERBOARD!" in alarm and he claimed the operator committed suicide on the Airship because he was shivering in ice, however von Gorian before had told the Radio Operator to stay in the Wireless Room but von Richter said he tried to save him but was unable to, however Von Gorian said that von Richter will be held responsible for the Wireless Operator's death but Colonel Hirsch reassured von Gorian that von Ricther is not to be blamed for this incident and instead Hirsch will take and accept full responsibility on his report. Very soon the airship went down from the clouds on the way to the German Kriegsmarine Cargo Ship, it is to pick up some Kaiserliche Marine Passenger Soldiers on a Commando Raid and also some cargo of Mustard Gas, on the way down from the clouds Harlich told von Gorian that they're breaking clouds and looked in binoculars at the the sea for the Cargo Ship after spotting it he ordered the ship to turn 20 degrees starboard, and slow engines and he also asked the wind direction to Harlich which Harlich said the ship is laying into the wind, so von Gorian said they will approach into the wind, as the airship came closer to the cargo ship which had a mooring mast it went safely towards the mast a rope was dropped and attached, as it was closing towards the mooring mast von Gorian replied "Stop all engines!" the airship safely was attached to the mooring mast and Colonel Hirsch ordered von Gorian to load the cargo and passengers, while the Kaiserliche Marine passengers including their Leutnant boarded the LZ36 one by one they all boarded, however as the mustard gas was being loaded, Dr Altschul complained as he knew what mustard gas would do to people, but Colonel Hirsch told him his job was over and had to proceed with loading, after loading they also where clear to leave and headed on it's way to Britain. Later the objective during the briefing was to head to the ruins of Balcoven Castle first into the Glen and they would pass over Glen Meddock in order to capture the British Historical Archives, and the Magna Carta, though Hirsch explained that they're not just robbing a bank but robbing the British far more greater than for their money and their history, Major Tauntler and the now promoted Major von Richter would also partake in this, they would attack Balcoven Castle and the engines will be turned off and glide in quietly, he also said he wouldn't have gotten far with von Richter, as von Gorian was gliding the airship down to 5000 800 altitude, both von Richter and Tauntler went into the basket he also later radioed to tell that they're were approaching Loch Tenning that was dead ahead, von Gorian ordered Brandner to turn the lights out and all engines slow, and left 17, and over Loch Cannon, and the Mattock hills and right 19, which Von Richter said Balcoven Castle should be straight ahead, and also they cut the engines, later as von Richter and Tauntler got down, von Gorian said that they're drifting and they had 1 minute least from the starboard engine, however Hirsch was about to tell Tauntler more but said not more, he ordered Starboard Engine 100 drifts, suddenly LZ36 was closing in up to Balcoven Castle, he ordered the ship to land at 50 feet, heading to 40, and 20, and 10, and 5 feet, which it managed to land safely the mission was able to proceed onto Balcoven Castle. Later on Major Tauntler and Major von Richter went on the mission, however though von Gorian stayed with the ship while Tauntler was on the route to castle to steal archives and Magna Carta, however though Von Richter whom was actually Geoffrey tried to war a nearby communications tower to tell a Sergeant to tell command about the invasion but however he shot him in the arm when he thought he was a German Spy and Geoffrey's word did come through so the British reinforcements where on their way to Balcoven Castle, however that is this caused Major Tauntler and his men to escape to the LZ36 so they wouldn't be stranded in British soil, eventually Geoffrey whom had a flare gun nearly fired it when Erika tried to warn him although Geoffrey fell to the ground because of his wounded arm, however he fired the flare which alerted the British to close in on LZ36's position however Major Tauntler and von Richter, Erika, and only barely about several of Tauntler's men where all that was left made a run to the Zeppelin while in the airship, von Gorian gave Tauntler and his men cover to escape to LZ36 but however Tauntler was wounded in the retreat, when he ordered the Zeppelin to start up however one British Soldier attempted to throw a grenade at LZ36's position which however Colonel Hirsch bravely sacrificed himself to save LZ36 and the pride of Germany's fleet of Zeppelins' his sacrifice allowed Hirsch to take his own life by landing on the grenade being blown up to allow LZ36 time to escape with not only the wounded on board but as well as saving many lives and Germany's price of the fleet although the last German Kaiserliche Marine soldier attempted to board he was shot dead before he was able to make it just in time LZ36 escaped on it's way back to Germany. Death On the way back to Germany however Geoffrey was being medically treated by Erika but she asked him is this what he wanted to do but Geoffrey said he never wanted any of this but all he wants to do is survive but Richter-Douglas said he could get shot for this although Erika knows this until Christian went in to check on them, but Erika felt she didn't want to lose Geoffrey as he's important. Harlich replied to von Gorian that they're passing over Newcastle and he asked about the altitude but said 7000, but von Gorian said they need 1500 by dawn however Harlich said in 2 hours they need to climb to 1500 feet, however Brandner said they're not sure they can maintain presence of the altitude, but Von Gorian said they need another 1800 feet to get above the fighters, Erika suggested that it meant they will have to jettison everything including the dead, Geoffrey did his duty to tell the Zeppelin's Chief Engineer Kauffmann to jettison everything on board, Von Richter told Kauffmann to order everyone to jettison all of this weight so the airship can climb into the sky, however while this was happening though Harlich told von Gorian that they're reaching 5000 500 feet, however later Harlich said they're reaching 1100 400 feet, but von Gorian asked if there was no more airtakes, Harlich said no, and von Gorian said it would be alright if the British sent out Avros, but beware of their sea, Harlich asked him "What about their fuel plane?" but von Gorian said "We would need another 3000 feet, but we need it now?" after he spotted enemy aircraft of British bi-planes coming in to attack, he told Harlich "Here they come.", however Harlich told everyone that enemy aircraft where coming from Starboard and Banking sides, but Harlich's reply was "Enemy aircraft on starboard and banking!" which Von Gorian's reply was "That is Sitting Duck." knowing they're all doomed. As two Kaiserliche Marine Soldiers went on down to join von Gorian and Harlich and Brandner, the two soldiers set up their Maschinengewehr 08 Heavy Machine Gun in readiness for the attack, during the attack they Zeppelin crews managed to man the MG 08's from any side of the Zeppelin, although casualties began to mount, one of the crew members in the bridge area where Von Gorian and Harlich and Brandner where at was shot dead, the young Kaiserliche Marine who went to aim his MG08 however Von Gorian went to help alongside the Junior Crewmember on board, Von Gorian fired his MG08, while Geoffrey went to warn the crew on the top Zeppelin but with lighter casualties mounting the Zeppelin began to mount many hits, which however Von Gorian the the crew member together fired at the bi-planes for as long as possible which they did, Von Gorian began doing heroic like by shooting numerous of Bi-Planes, but before he was able to get the next Bi-Plane unfortunately von Gorian was shot in the head by it's bullet while the young Junior Kaiserliche Marine watched in horror as their Commander was shot in the head and died, few moments later Major Tauntler had committed suicide and following that skirmish Dr Altschul committed suicide by jumping out the window. After von Gorian had died and fought well like a hero, Geoffrey and Harlich had to take von Gorian's body away to the door but Geoffrey had to dispose of the MG08 and which thus ended the battle, while he went to help Harlich dispose of von Gorian's dead body, Harlich was very sad of their Commander whom had just died a hero, and strongly Harlich had felt emotional for the death of von Gorian, which Geoffrey and Harlich had to watch von Gorian's dead body fall 9000 500 feet, after watching von Gorian for the last time they then closed the Gondola bridge door and many of the remaining survivors began to dispose of many objects and the dead, however the death of von Gorian wasn't in vain he died a hero so that Geoffrey Ricther-Douglas also known as Gottfried von Richter, and Erika Altschul and Harlich and the remaining survivors would make it to neutral Holland. Awards Notes *He is played by Andrew Keir. Gallery Von Gorian sees the guests.png|First seeing Von Richter Gorian bridge.png Approaching Norway.png|Tells them they're going close towards Norway Von Gorian, talks to Altschul.png|Tells Professor Altschul that he's got two hours, Lookout.png|Von Gorian looks in his benoculars when Harlich next to him Bridge.png|Von Gorian and his Oberbootsmann Before approaching Moring mast.png|closing towards the mooring mast Closer to Mooring mast.png|just about to attach to mooring mast Before the mission.png|Colonel Hirsch, Geoffrey, Von Gorian and Harlich watch the Zeppelin land Rank insignia.png|Von Gorian's insignia Hears the fighters closing in.png|Von Gorian tells Harlich that he sees enemy planes coming in, That is sitting duck.png|"That is sitting duck!" to Harlich, Preparing for battle.png|Von Gorian and two of his Kaiserliche Marine soldiers prepare for battle getting the MG08 ready Gorian manning the MG08.png|Von Gorian manns the MG08 after the Kaiserliche Marine gunner died,with the help of the Junior Kaiserliche Marine of course, Gorian death.png|Commander Von Gorian is shot in the head from the airplanes, he soon collapes and dies, Gorian dead body.png|Geoffrey and Harlich drag Von Gorian's body away to dispose off, Harlich has to chuck Von Gorian's body overboard,.png|Harlich looks at Von Gorian one last time before dumping him overboard LZ36, this was Harlich's emotional moment feeling saddened of his Commander's death. Category:Zeppelin (1971) Category:Movie Characters Category:Kaiserliche Marine Category:Deaths by Shooting Category:Deceased Characters Category:Captains Category:Officers Category:Galleries